


And If All Of This Is Dragging You Under, I'll Still Be Around

by FireMane15



Series: I Can't Imagine A World With You Gone [2]
Category: Titans (TV 2018)
Genre: Concussions, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Major Character Injury, One Shot, Post-Season/Series 02, discussion of sex, so read that first, takes place after my fic I Can't Imagine A World With You Gone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:53:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29839068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireMane15/pseuds/FireMane15
Summary: It’s not fair. For her to have to go through so much all at the same time. She has more to deal with than any one person should. He’s tried to help take the burden off her, to share it, by offering her comfort, and being someone she can talk to about all this. But, his help can only go so far. Her pain and grief is unavoidable.But, they’ve talked a lot the past two days, and Dick assumes that’s why she’s here.So he opens the door wider, and lets her in./Dick and Kory process Blackfire’s attack and Kory’s injuries.
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Koriand'r
Series: I Can't Imagine A World With You Gone [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2193636
Comments: 1
Kudos: 23





	And If All Of This Is Dragging You Under, I'll Still Be Around

It’s 11:00 pm.

Dick’s just gotten out of the shower, just towel-dried his hair, just put a pair of sweatpants on, when he hears a knock at his door.

He opens the door. It’s Kory, in shorts, a camisole, and her walking boot on her sprained ankle.

It has only been two days since Komand’r had attacked and injured Kory. This is Kory’s first night not spent in the med bay.

She told him, and then the rest of the team, about everything that was going on.

About being a literal fucking princess...of an entire fucking planet. Because, of course she is.

And about her sister, her parents, Faddei.

It’s not fair. For her to have to go through so much all at the same time. She has more to deal with than any one person should. He’s tried to help take the burden off her, to share it, by offering her comfort, and being someone she can talk to about all this. But, his help can only go so far. Her pain and grief is unavoidable.

But, they’ve talked a lot the past two days, and Dick assumes that’s why she’s here.

So he opens the door wider, and lets her in.

Once she’s in, he closes the the door and turns to face her.

“What’s up?” he asks her.

She shoots him a confused look.

“I just...what do you wanna talk about?” Dick asks, thrown off by Kory’s confusion.

She rolls her eyes affectionately at him. And gives him a look that tells him that he’s an idiot.

She walks, or hobbles really, towards him.

“I didn’t come here to talk, Dick” she says in a sultry voice.

And then her lips are on his.

_Oh._

He kisses her back immediately.

And fuck, it’s only been two days, but he missed this.

His hands automatically move towards her waist before stopping in mid air.

She has bruises and cuts all over. He doesn’t want to hurt her.

But, he can’t think. She’s too intoxicating. The kiss is too intoxicating. His mind is in such a haze, he can barely focus on anything besides Kory’s lips moving against his own. He can’t gather his thoughts enough to figure out where he can safely put his hands.

Her arms are around his neck, while his just hover in the air, above her waist. She starts to walk backward, and brings him with her, keeping their lips connected.

She only moves her lips off his so that she can get on the bed, and scoot backwards.

He joins her on the bed.

But then he realizes...

They can’t do this.

But before he can say anything, Kory pulls him down on top of her, clearly not as concerned about her various injuries as he is. 

He catches himself on his elbows so that he’s not putting any of his weight on her.

And then her lips are on his again. And they feel so good, so right. But fuck, they can’t do this.

With difficulty, he pulls his lips away from hers. But that only causes her to start kissing his neck. She sucks on that spot she knows drives him crazy, and he can’t help but moan.

He needs to stop this before it gets any farther.

“Kory, Kory...we need to stop,” Dick tells her.

She pulls back and looks at him with confusion, and a little bit of hurt.

“Why?”

He raises an eyebrow at her, and pointedly looks over her various bruises and injuries that are very visible on her body.

“It’s fine,” she tries to assure him. “You’ll just have to be careful. It’s okay. I trust you.”

“And your concussion?”

“It’s fine,” she says shortly.

“No, it’s not,” he tells her firmly. “You’re not supposed to do any exercise. And unfortunately, that includes sex.”

“‘Well...we can just do it slow and gentle then.”

He moves from his place above her above her to lay beside her on the bed.

“It doesn’t matter. It could still worsen your concussion.”

Kory lets out a frustrated sigh.

“Okay, oral sex then,” Kory says, as she turns toward him, laying on her side.

“Part of the problem with concussions and exercise is elevated heartrate. Which happens when you orgasm,” Dick explains.

“Fine. Then, I can just give you a blowjob.”

“Kory...” he says.

“What?” she asks irritated. “I won’t be the one orgasming, thus no elevated heart rate. Problem solved.”

“Maybe...but there’s the head movement. That’s a little concerning to me. And it’s not, you know, particularly fair to you...For me to be the only getting an orgasm.”

Kory turns away from him, and lays on her back, clenching her jaw.

“So, I guess that’s that then,” she says, sounding deflated and annoyed.

He leans over, and presses a kiss to her collarbone, before looking up at her with soft eyes.

“Maybe...Maybe in a few days, _if_ your symptoms improve, we can try oral sex. That should be the easiest on your concussion,” Dick says, hoping to cheer her up a bit.

He doesn’t understand why she’s so upset, why them having sex right now is _so _important to her.__

____

____

“I can’t do anything,” she tells him in a painfully frustrated voice.

_And _it was never really about sex, Dick realizes.__

____

Of course, it wasn’t.

He should have realized sooner.

“I can’t train. I can’t fight with the team. I can’t defend myself. I can’t protect you guys. I can’t heal myself. I can’t use my powers. And _now _, I can’t _even _have sex,” Kory says, getting increasingly distressed, letting out a humorless laugh at the end.____

_____ _

_____ _

“I literally can’t do anything. At all,” she says, turning to look at him with a lost, pained look in her eyes. “I’m completely useless.”

“That’s not true,” he protests.

“Isn’t it? What can I do? If...If Kom were to attack, I couldn’t do anything. You guys would have to protect me, would have to fight her on your own. And she would go after you because of _me _. It’s my shit, my problems that’s endangering you guys. And I can’t even help you guys fight it. And if you or anyone got hurt because of...because of me,” she says, getting choked up.__

____

____

She takes a deep breath.

“You and the team are in this dangerous mess because of me. And I can’t even do anything about it right now. You guys would be fighting _my _battle without me and...It’s my fault, i’m putting you guys at risk, and I can’t even do anything about it... All I can do is lay around. All day. Doing nothing. Contributing nothing.”__

____

____

Dick gets it.

And because he gets it, he doesn’t know what to say to help her.

He’s always hated being injured, unable to do help, unable to fight. And he’s been told by those around him that when he’s sick or injured, he is nothing short of unbearable.

He _hates _the feeling of not being able to do anything. He hates being told by others that he has to “sit this one out.”__

____

____

He’s never handled it well, so he doesn’t know how to help Kory handle it.

But he has to at least try.

“One: what’s happening now with your sister is _not _your fault,” Dick tells her fiercely. “You didn’t do anything. Your sister just wants to get rid of any possible threat to her power. You didn’t bring this upon us, so stop thinking that way.”__

____

____

“But-” Kory protests.

“Not. Your. Fault.”

She stops protesting, but she still looks dejected. So Dick reaches over, and gently cups the left side of her head, and turns her face to look at him, softly rubbing his thumb back and forth on her jaw. 

“Okay?” he asks softly.

A few weeks ago, hell a few days ago, he would have never have done this. Touched her so freely, so lovingly. Showed her so much affection. Without fear and anxiety. 

But when she was missing, he was faced with the possibility of losing her. And when she came back, so banged up. It made him realize it could have been worse. Her sister could have- no.

It just broke something within him.

He doesn’t want to hold himself back anymore.

Well, that’s not completely true. He is holding himself back some. But it’s for her sake, not for his. He doesn’t want to make her uncomfortable. He doesn’t want to push. He doesn’t know if she returns his feelings. But even if she does, he knows it's not a good time. She has so much on her plate, and he doesn’t want to add to it. 

So yes, he’s freer with his touches, with his affection and adoration towards her. But, he always makes sure to watch her reactions, to make sure his affection and touches are welcome, to look for any signs of discomfort. He hasn’t seen any so far, not in the two days since this change in him. In fact, he thinks she may even take comfort and solace in it. But that may just be his hope and own feelings clouding his perception of things. And if Kory notices the difference in him, she hasn’t let on.

He has some firm boundaries he won’t cross. He won’t make a move. Won’t kiss her on the lips, except as a precursor to sex or during sex itself. He won’t tell her how he feels. Nothing that will pressure her. He won’t put his feelings on her, when she already has so many feelings and stuff of her own to deal with.

But, he’s done protecting himself when it comes to her. Before two days ago, he used to be so conscious of every move he made around her. Every word he said. Everything he did. Every touch he made. He was so scared of giving himself away, of accidently revealing his feelings for her. He wanted to protect himself.

He’s done with all that now. He doesn’t care about giving himself away. He’d give away every little piece of himself to her if that’s what she wanted, what she needed. He doesn’t care if she discovers his feelings for her. He’s not going to tell her about them, but he’s not going to pretend either.

Right now, all he wants is to be there for her.

“Okay,” she replies softly.

He gives her a half smile.

“Two,” he says, getting back to everything she laid out. “You are not putting the team at risk. You are not putting anything on us, or forcing us into anything. We _want _to help you. _I _want to help you. Wouldn’t have it any other way.”____

_____ _

_____ _

“You guys could get hurt. She could kil-”

“That’s always a risk, Kory. With the life I’ve chosen. The life the rest of the team has chosen. And the life you’ve chosen. We put ourselves in danger, we put our lives on the line all the time...to save and help people we don’t even know. So, do you really think there's any way in hell that when _you're _the one in danger, we’re not going to do the same thing? That we’re not going to do whatever it takes to protect you, to take your sister down?” Dick tells her passionately.__

____

____

She takes that in. And Dick can tell he’s convinced her. He considers that a victory, even she’s still far from okay, far from at peace with her current situation.

“I just...I hate feeling so... _helpless _. Knowing that at any moment, she could attack, and I couldn’t do a thing about it,” she finally tells him, sounding and looking so heartbreakingly sad.__

____

____

Dick takes his hand off her face, and takes her left hand instead, holding it in his, resting their intertwined hands on her stomach. She’s laying on her back, while he’s laying on his side, pressed up against her.

“I know. I get it. I hate feeling that way too. I’ve never handled being injured well. Always irritated the fuck out of everyone with my insistence that I was fine, with repeated attempts to train and fight when I was in no state to, trying to rush my recovery. And I so badly want to tell you something that will make you feel better, that’ll lessen that shitty feeling of helplessness. But, I’ve never been able to get rid of it, to get comfortable with the idea of being out of commission,” Dick tells her.

She nods in understanding, knowing exactly what he means.

“Unfortunately, the only assurance I can give you is that it’s temporary. That in a 3 or 4 weeks, you should fully recovered.”

“And if Kom attacks in those few weeks? When i’m no good to anyone?” Kory asks him, fear tinging her voice

“Then, you have to have faith in us. Trust our abilities,” Dick tells her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze to reassure her.

“I do,” she assures him. “I do...I just...I’ve never been injured like this before. Never had to sit on sidelines, unable to do anything.”

“I know,” Dick says sympathetically.

She nods, and gulps, swallowing a lump in her throat.

“I guess i’ll just have to make peace with this..somehow,” Kory says.

“And I-we can help with that. Let us handle things for the next few weeks,” Dick says.

Kory nods along, knowing she needs to accept this.

Besides,” Dick continues. “I can’t wait go toe to toe with your sister.”

Kory abruptly snatches her hand out of his. She sits up.

“Don’t say that. This is serious! Kom’s dangerous. You could get hurt. You could get killed!” Kory says, fear in her eyes.

“Kory, I didn’t m-”

“Why would you say that?” she asks accusatory. “I mean, how would you have felt, what would you have done if I had said that about Deathstroke? If I had talked so flippantly about wanting to go one-on-one with him?”

His jaw clenches and his heart rate increases in anxiety just thinking of it.

“I would have flipped out,” Dick replies honestly.

“My sister is just as dangerous as Deathstroke. More, really. She has these new powers, powers I never even had. You need to take this seriously,” she tells him, angry, and still frightened.

“I do,” he assures her. “You’re right. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be flippant about it. That’s not what I meant. I just meant...I guess I just meant that I want to take her down. She’s caused you so much pain, both physically and emotionally, and I want to make her pay for that.”

Kory listens, and she looks less angry, but still scared.

“Don’t you dare do anything stupid,” she tells him.

“I won’t.”

She still looks unconvinced.

“I promise.”

She settles at that, and goes back to lay on her back, taking a deep breath.

Dick can tell she’s still upset, still overwhelmed. With everything that’s going on. With everything they’ve talked about.

He moves to lay on his back too. Right by her side. He takes a hold of her hand, intertwines their fingers, and places their hands on the bed between them.

“You’ll get through this,” he tells her.

“How do you know?” she asks, sounding small.

“Because you’re strong, and-”

Kory scoffs.

" _You are _," Dick insists, giving her hand a squeeze. “I know you don’t feel like it now, but you are. And... I know, most of your life you didn’t have people you could _really _rely on. And yet, you were able to thrive, to do amazing things. Despite the lack of support. The lack of help. And now...now you do have people you can rely on. You have me, you have the Titans. So imagine what you can do now.”____

___Kory’s eyes mist over a bit._ _ _

_____ _

_____ _

They lay there together, holding hands, in a contemplative silence.

After a few moments, Kory sits up, untangling her hand from his. She wipes a tear from the corner of her eye.

“Thank you. For everything. You’ve been...You’ve been amazing,” Kory tells him.

She looks at him with such affection in her eyes that it nearly bowls him over.

“I guess, I should get going now,” she continues.

Dick props himself up on his elbows.

“You don’t have to,” he tells her. “Just because we can’t have sex, doesn’t mean you can’t stay the night. I know you have nightmares, and, I don’t know, but it might helpful to wake up beside someone else, to know you’re not alone.”

Kory looks uncertain.

“But, it’s up to you. Whatever you want. I’m just letting you know that the option’s available. It doesn’t have to _be _anything, doesn’t have to _mean _anything that you don’t want it to mean.”____

_____ _

_____ _

“Okay,” she says softly.

She lays beside him, on her side, facing him. He turns so he’s facing her too. They lay in the silence for a few moments, just looking at each other.

“I don’t know what I want it to mean,” Kory admits quietly. “I-”

“That’s okay,” Dick assures her quietly. “You don’t have to. I’m here. I don’t expect anything. I just want to be there for you.”

For the first time since he told her they couldn’t have sex, Kory smiles. A small smile, but still a smile.

He wants to kiss her.

But he won’t.

“And, when you get around to figuring it out, i’ll still be here,” Dick tells her.

He can wait.


End file.
